


The Last Ride

by Ghoul_FunGhoul



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Album), My Chemical Romance
Genre: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-11 01:10:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7018918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghoul_FunGhoul/pseuds/Ghoul_FunGhoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens after Poison and Ghoul hear the Traffic Report? </p><p>Based off the second half of the album</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. PARTY POISON: "Til the Party Breaks Down"

_ “Bad news from the zones, tumbleweeds. Looks like Jet Star and the Kobra Kid had a clap with an exterminator that went all Costa Rica, and uh, got themselves ghosted, dusted out on Route Guano. So, it’s time to hit the Red Line and up-thrust the volume out there. Keep your boots tight, keep your gun close, and die with your mask on if you’ve got to. Here is the traffic…” _

 

The car stopped abruptly as Party Poison’s foot slammed on the brake. Fun Ghoul’s jaw was practically on the ground. Instead of waiting for the traffic report, Poison twisted the key out of the ignition, and roughly pushed his car door open. He slammed it shut behind him and stormed away. His thoughts swirled around him. Nothing made sense. 

Rage, confusion, sadness, denial, everything negative at once danced around inside him. Kobra is  _ dead _ ? Jet Star, too?  _ My brother, _ he thought.

“No,” he whispered as he stopped walking. “No!” he screamed into the night sky.

“Poison!” He could hear Ghoul calling out to him from the car. “Party Poison, where are you going?!”

He’d just lost two of his best friends. He started running. He didn’t know where he was going, but he had to run. 

_ This isn’t real, this isn’t real. Wake up, Party Poison, damn it. Wake up! _

“Poison! Stop! Shit,” Ghoul was following him. He was tempted to turn around and wait for him, but instead kept running.

“This isn’t fucking real!” He shouted. “Kobra’s  _ not _ dead! Jet Star promised! They  _ promised  _ to protect each other, Ghoul! This is a fucking nightmare!” 

He wasn’t watching where he was going and tripped over a rock in the way of his path. Crashing to the ground, Party Poison sobbed loudly. “My brother is  _ not _ dead!” 

Still wanting to run away from the car--the news--Poison tried to push himself up, but there was nothing in him that could bring him to do it. He fell back down to his stomach and pulled his knees up to his chest. He grabbed fistfuls of his red hair and screamed into the humid air. 

“He’s not dead. They’re not dead. This isn’t real,” he mumbled, trying to convince himself. “Wake up, Party Poison, come on.”

“Poison,” Fun Ghoul huffed, out of breath from chasing after him. “Party-” As he let out a breath, it transformed into a sob. “We can’t- we’ve got to get back to the diner. We can’t stay out here.”

Poison had no intentions of leaving that position until he finally woke up from his nightmare. “Ghoul, this is a  _ dream _ . It doesn’t fucking matter if we- if we’re out here. Even if it weren’t why do we deserve to be safe?” He looked up at Ghoul with tears in his eyes and anger in his heart. “It should’ve been us! We were supposed to go tonight!  _ We _ should’ve fucking died, not them!  _ Not _ my brother,” his voice trailed off as he finally realized he wasn’t going to wake up.

Collapsing to his knees next to Poison, Ghoul ran his hands through his hair. He knew it, too. It should’ve been them. He looked sadly back over to Poison and saw that his hands were still fisted in his hair. He was starting to pull some of it out.

“Poison, let go of your hair, you’re going to pull it all out,” Ghoul said gently. He tried to unhook Party Poison’s fingers from his hair, but they were so tightly intertwined, Ghoul started to accidently pull some hair out, too.

“Good! Why shouldn’t I? They’re  _ dead _ , Fun Ghoul! Dead!” he screamed.

“I know, I know, Party Poison. We need to go back, come on. Give me the keys, I’ll drive. Poison, come on. Please.” His fingers finally loosened from his hair. Ghoul pulled Poison off the ground and grabbed the keys out of his jacket pocket. He led him back to the car and opened the passenger side door for him. Plopping down angrily into the seat, Poison crossed his arms over his chest.

Even though Fun Ghoul was playing tough, Poison knew that as soon as he was alone, his last friend was going to break down just like he was--or maybe even worse.

Ghoul started the car and drove the short distance to the diner they called home. The entire ride was silent--neither wanted to turn the radio back on after what they last heard. Ghoul could tell Poison was fuming next to him even in the silence. Who knew what he’d do with all that pent up anger.

For himself, Fun Ghoul was barely holding himself together. As soon as they reached the diner, he decided he was going to just go around back and let it all go. Two of his best friends were dead now. All because he and Poison didn’t go on the trip down Guano. It should’ve been them instead of Jet and Kobra. They were practically his brothers. 

A sob escaped Ghoul’s throat, causing him to shake all over and swerve the car.

“What the fuck was that, Fun Ghoul?” Poison spat at him.

“I- Sorry, geez. Fuck off, man,” Ghoul growled.

“You know what? Stop the car,” Poison ordered.

“What-”

“Stop the damn car!” Poison yelled.

As Ghoul stepped on the brake pedal, Poison threw open his door and got out. Ghoul could see the diner was not too far away, but it was still quite a ways away. After slamming the door, Party Poison started stomping off again.

“Party Poison!” Ghoul shouted, getting out of the car. “Poison, get back in the car! You can’t fucking walk that entire way!”

“Watch me!” Poison didn’t even turn around.

“Fine,” he mumbled to himself.

As he stormed off, Poison heard Ghoul turn the car back on and slam on the gas. If he was an inch farther over to the right, Ghoul would’ve hit Party Poison with the side mirror. The wind from the car made him stumble forward a little, but he quickly caught his balance.

“Fucking asshole,” Poison grumbled.

Ghoul could see Poison getting smaller in the rearview mirror as he sped away. It didn’t even take him ten minutes to get to the diner, but he knew he’d have at least twenty minutes to himself before the other Killjoy made it.

He got out of the car and shut the door. He didn’t go in the diner--he didn’t want to face anyone else. All he wanted was to sit down and let everything out. Walking around back, Ghoul looked up at the stars.

“I let you down,” he whispered, hoping that wherever Jet and Kobra were, they would someday forgive him. 

He slid down the side of the diner and waited for a couple of minutes to let his thoughts catch up to him. It didn’t take long before Fun Ghoul was sobbing into his hands, screaming at the moon, cursing everyone and everything for taking his best friends away from him. Not only did two of his friends  _ die _ , but now Poison was pissed off. They’d never be the same without Kobra Kid and Jet Star.

Ghoul wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting there, but soon enough knew Poison had arrived because he heard the front door of the diner violently swing open. He didn’t care what Party Poison did in there to the other people. It was their fault if they got in his way. 

Ghoul knew not to step in front of him when he was angry. They were both explosive people. Hopefully whoever was occupying the diner would get out before Poison threw too big of a fit. 

“Get out!” Poison yelled, smashing a glass against the wall. “Leave me alone!” He pushed Show Pony away from him, making him roll back into the booth he was sitting in.

“Alright, kids, let’s split,” Show Pony said, quickly ushering out the group of them that were also mourning Kobra and Jet.

As soon as they were gone, Poison picked up another glass and threw it at the nearest wall. Shards of glass flew around the room as he found more things to throw. Screaming, he stomped his foot down, hoping whatever fate or god or witch that was responsible for his brother and friend’s death got his message: he was pissed.

Another dish went flying towards the wall, but when it shattered, a piece of glass bounced back towards Poison and punctured his arm. Screaming again, he impulsively swung out and punched the window in front of him. Even more pieces of glass littered the floor and cut his arm.

“Fuck! Fuck this, fuck everything!” he screeched. There was no point in fighting it anymore. Falling into the glass around him, Poison kneeled down and cried.

His brother was dead. His friend was dead. His best friend was pissed off at him. His arm was bleeding. Nothing was right, and it would never be the same again.

Still crying, Poison started to feel the glass in his arm stinging. He thought about just leaving it there, but the back door opened, and Ghoul walked in, wiping tears from his eyes.

“Shit,” he groaned, looking around at the mess. “Poison, what’d you do? Oh,” Ghoul stopped once he saw the blood running down Party Poison’s arm. “Oh, man, Poison. We need to get that out of your arm.”

He walked over to Poison and pulled him up by his other arm. Even though he was smaller, Ghoul let Poison lean on him while he walked him over to the sink behind the counter. Quickly washing his own hands, Ghoul gestured for Poison to sit on the counter.

Not looking at Fun Ghoul, Party Poison started thinking about what they were going to do next. “There’s no way they’re getting away with this.”

“Who? What?” Ghoul asked absentmindedly while pushing Poison’s jacket sleeve further up his arm. Thankfully, he wouldn’t have to work around the fabric even though it would’ve taken most of the damage.

“Ghoul, we have to avenge them,” Poison said. “I can’t just do nothing, and I know you can’t either.”

Ghoul just sighed and opened the cabinet door below the sink. He grabbed a thing of duct tape and set it on the counter next to Poison’s thigh. He gently grabbed his hand and braced himself for Poison to scream. “Take a deep breath, Poison,” he instructed. 

Poison did as he was told. As soon as he inhaled, Ghoul pulled out the big piece of glass from his arm.

“Shit!” Party Poison yelled and pulled his arm away from Ghoul. “You should’ve warned me!”

“You would’ve tensed up! Now give me your hand. You’ve still got more glass in your arm.”

Poison’s arm started bleeding where the piece of glass had just been. Ghoul grabbed a dish rag and rinsed it off quickly. He placed it on top of the wound and then picked up the duct tape. “I’ve got to leave this on your arm for a minute, then I’m going to rip it off.”

“What?” Poison pulled away again, but not before Ghoul could grab his hand.

“I’ve got to get these small pieces out, Party Poison. Just chill.”

“I am chill,” Poison mumbled.

Ghoul shook his head while he ripped off a piece of tape and pressed it onto Poison’s arm. He lightly rubbed his thumb over the tape, hoping it wasn’t causing Party Poison too much pain. He looked up at him and saw that Poison was too distracted by his thoughts.

“We’re going to fight back.” Party Poison said sternly. “We’re going to show Battery City what happens when you fuck with the Killjoys. I won’t let my brother or Jet Star die without justice.” He looked eagerly at Fun Ghoul. “But you can’t let me do it alone. I need you to be there with me, fighting alongside me. Ghoul, you’re the best shooter I’ve ever seen and cause the most damage in a fight.” 

Ghoul started to press back down on the tape.

“Not to mention, you’re my friend, the only one I’ve got left.”

Once again without warning, Fun Ghoul ripped off the tape from Poison’s arm.


	2. SAVE YOURSELF, I'LL HOLD THEM BACK: "Salute the Dead and Lead the Fight"

It had been a few days since the news traveled around the zones, but sure enough, Killjoys from every direction were stopping at the diner to leave small tokens at the shrines built for Jet Star and the Kobra Kid. People were sitting everywhere telling stories of when they first met the two or how they had inspired them.

Party Poison avoided most of them--only Dr. D knew where exactly he’d gone--but that was okay with him. He didn’t want to hear how everyone “loved Kobra” or how much they missed him or “sorry for your loss.” None of that was going to bring him back. None of that would repay what BLI had taken.

While Poison sulked on his own, Fun Ghoul wasn’t as open with his anguish. He let people repeat the same thing to him over and over again as a way for them to grieve. He was still hurting, but he knew he wasn’t the only one. He was able to hold himself together most of the day, only letting a few people catch a glimpse of how distraught he really was, but at night, he could hear Kobra and Jet’s screams as they died in his nightmares.

Cherri Cola eventually showed up at the diner. Ghoul had expected him to get there sooner--everyone knew about Cherri and Kobra even if they didn’t talk about it much. As soon as he did arrive though, many others left immediately. Even Show Pony stayed clear of him, just as he’d done with Poison those first two days. 

Cherri wasn’t even remotely as temperamental as the other two, but something about his presence made the other Killjoys scatter. Ghoul met him at the shrines, hoping to keep his facade up a while longer.

There were dark circles under his eyes, and he didn’t speak a word. Cherri barely even glanced at the crosses with their names on them. He walked right up to Fun Ghoul and looked down at him.

“Is Dr. D in the shack?” he sounded tired. “I need to tell him something--immediately.”

Ghoul wished that Cherri Cola would say-  _ do _ something about his lost lover, but he could also tell the other Killjoy was struggling to keep his gaze away from the shrines.

“Yeah,” Ghoul sighed. “Yeah, he’s in there.”

Cherri took one glance at the shrines, then walked briskly over to the shack. Before he was inside, Ghoul ran up to him.

“Wait, what’s up?”

Cherri Cola took a deep breath and frowned. “Listen, we don’t have time. We need to get everyone ready to fight.”

“What-”

Cherri pushed open the door, making Show Pony jump when he walked in. 

“Better Living is sending a SCARECROW unit this way and soon,” he told Dr. D without any other introduction. “They knew everyone was going to gather here after they killed-” he bit his lip and looked away. “Once they’d ghosted Jet Star and Kobra Kid.” He didn’t look back at Dr. D even once he’d finished talking. Only Ghoul could see tears falling from his eyes.

“What?!” Show Pony jumped up from his seat and skated over to the desk. “We’ve got to get everyone out of h-”

“Are you sure?” Dr. D talked over him. 

Cherri nodded. “They were dispatched a few hours ago. They’ll be here any minute.”

“D,” Show Pony moved to his side. “We’ve got to get these Killjoys outta here. If not-”

“Pony, this is what we do,” Cherri Cola scolded. “Tell everyone to get ready. And if they don’t have a gun, find something else.”

Show Pony looked to Dr. D to give him some other option, but he only looked to Fun Ghoul as he grabbed the microphone and flipped the “on air” sign on. “Alright, motorbabies, time to get your masks on, we’ve got a ‘crow unit headed our way and they’re hoping to add more death to our toll. If you’re currently chillin’ in our area of Zone 6, it’s time to rock ‘n’ roll.”

As soon as the microphone was off, Show Pony started talking. “D, we can’t send all of these ‘joys out there,” he skated over to the deejay and crouched down beside him. Lowering his voice, he continued, “There are kids here with some of the crews. Even if we did tell them to get out of here, the ‘crows would catch up to them.”

Dr. D looked back over at Ghoul, who was still standing there, watching Cherri Cola try to compose himself. “Get three others to move the kiddos out of here--somewhere safe. Make sure they’re ones that don’t miss.”

“Fun Ghoul, can you lead-” 

“Ghoul stays here,” Cherri interrupted Show Pony. “If we’ve got a ‘crow unit coming at us, we need him on the front line.”

“I wouldn’t leave anyway,” Ghoul grumbled, upset that everyone was talking for him.

Show Pony skated out of the shack still looking worried. Cherri stood back up straight and cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner,” he apologized. “I was going to head here as soon as I heard-” he paused.

Before he could start speaking again, Dr. D put his hand up. “No need to apologize to us, Cherri Cola. We all have our own coping methods, and from the looks of it, none of them are healthy,” he gave Ghoul the side-eyes.

Instead of defending himself, Fun Ghoul instantly thought of Party Poison. Was he going to be in danger? If he wasn’t here, did he know about the SCARECROW unit?  _ I can’t lose him, too. _

He was getting ready to ask Dr. D where Poison had gone, but before he could speak, Show Pony came crashing into the room. Cherri Cola caught him before he could fall. Even though he was out of breath, all three of them got the message by the look of horror in his eyes.

“We’ve seen the ‘crows,” he gasped. “And it looks like the party might be bigger than we thought.”

“Dr. D, where  _ is _ Party-”

“Ghoul, we’ve got to get out there,” Cherri grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him out of the shack. He pulled a red gun out a holster on his thigh. When Ghoul saw the “Deluxe” logo on the side, he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Cherri didn’t even flinch. “He left it on accident,” he explained. Ghoul felt a sudden burst of rage fill his heart and decided to let himself get pissed. He’d tried so hard the past few days to keep himself calm, but it was time to finally give in to his emotions. “I was planning on giving it back, but-”

Fun Ghoul grabbed the gun and cocked it back. He looked down the barrel and aimed at the first ‘crow he could see. The unit was still pretty far away, and he wasn’t one hundred percent sure if he would even hit them, but he fired Kobra’s gun anyway. 

The Killjoys running madly around them stopped and watched as the ‘crow in front fell to the ground. An onlooker Ghoul had never met looked over at him, impressed.

“A warning shot,” he smiled, feeling the satisfaction of the hit fill him with even more energy. “No one dusts my friends and gets to ambush us peacefully.”

Dr. D rolled out of the shack just as Ghoul grabbed his own gun out of his holster. He stopped his wheelchair right next to him and had the same look of confusion at seeing Kobra Kid’s gun as Fun Ghoul.

“Where’d you get that?” He looked sadly at the two younger Killjoys.

“Not important,” Ghoul sneered. 

Dr. D shared a worried look with Cherri Cola, but instead of telling him to calm down, he said, “Can’t believe it took you this long to get pissed.”

“Yeah, well there’s no better time.”

“Maybe make sure you don’t let yourself get killed, alright?” Dr. D sounded exhausted, but Ghoul was already worked up too much to put up with it.

“You know what-”

“Guys,” Cherri cocked back his pink gun and clenched his teeth. “That’s at  _ least _ two ‘crow units, if not three.” They were getting close enough for others to start getting ready for the firefight.

Show Pony skated over to them and bit his lip. “We’re not all going to make it, are we?”

“Not if I have anything to do about it,” Ghoul grumbled. 

“Fun Ghoul, what are you thinking-” 

He didn’t let Cherri finish his question. With both his gun and Kobra Kid’s gun aimed at the SCARECROWs, he fired into the crowd of cars and motorcycles. He wasn’t even three shots in before they started firing back. The other Killjoys fell forward with him, firing at the ‘crows. 

It wasn’t long before bodies were hitting the ground--both ‘crows and ‘joys--but Ghoul didn’t stop pushing forward until he felt a hand grab his shoulder. He was ready to shoot the person, but saw that it was Show Pony.

“What do you want?” He screamed at Pony. Then, he saw blood running from his arm. “Pony, what happened-”

“Just-” he squeezed his eyes shut, “follow me.”

Pony grabbed his arm and led him towards the back of Dr. D’s shack. He slid down the wall and sat in the dirt. He was breathing heavily, and that made Ghoul’s anger disappear almost immediately--it was replaced with worry and fear. 

“Pony, you need to get out of h-”

“Fun Ghoul, listen- listen to me,” he tightened his grip on Ghoul’s wrist.

Ghoul had never seen so much pain in Pony’s eyes. “I- I’m listening.”

“You- you need to go,” he whimpered, the pain from his wound stopping him from speaking. He groaned before going on. “Lis- listen, Dr. D said Poison is at a bar south of here, closer to Zone 5. The- the ‘crows don’t know about; most- most ‘joys don’t even know about it, I- I didn’t,” Pony tried to laugh, but Ghoul could see the pain all over his face.

“Okay, okay,” Ghoul grabbed his bandana out of his back pocket and wrapped it around Show Pony’s arm. “South of here, near Zone 5.” He tried to get the bleeding to stop but it wouldn’t. “I’m going to get Cherri Cola to get you out of here, Pony.” He stood up. “I’ll be right back-”

“ _ Ghoul _ ,” Pony looked up at him, tears filling his eyes. “The keys are already in Cherri’s motorcycle. He- he told me to have you take- take it,” he closed his eyes again. When he opened them, Fun Ghoul was still standing there, looking down at his friend. “Go! Go now, Ghoul! Get out of here! Save yourself this time, man! Go!”

Fun Ghoul ran to the motorcycle, swung his leg over the seat, and then started the engine. He looked back at Pony one last time, who just gave him a thumbs up, before he took off.

He saw a few ‘crows follow him, but he quickly shot them down. As he headed south towards Poison, he could hear the blasts of guns and the screams of the wounded. It was worse this time than any of the nightmares he’d had of Kobra and Jet.


	3. S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/: We're All Alone Tonight

Poison heard Dr. D’s broadcast at the bar, but the owner, Queen of Hearts, wouldn’t let him leave to join in the fight. She said it would be better for him to stay there. 

“Plus, if those fuckers head this way, I’m gonna need backup,” she said with her arms folded across her chest. 

He didn’t argue with her, but he couldn’t keep his leg from shaking while he sat alone at a booth. Poison waited and waited for someone to say  _ something _ over the waves, but he never heard a single word from the radio sitting on the bar. There wasn’t even music playing. The only sound in the bar was his foot tapping against the tile floor. 

After another five minutes, he decided he wasn’t going to sit around any longer. His friends needed his help. He shouldn’t have run off. It was stupid.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Poison was muttering to himself as he walked to the door. As soon as he reached the door, it went flying open.

Hearts flung the door open and had a bewildered look on her face. “There’s a car headed our way. It’s goin’ fast, and I have a feelin’ there’s gonna be others following shortly after,” she said, out of breath.

She pushed past him and slid over the bar counter. After grabbing her gun and knife from the shelf on the wall, she took the radio and tried to find any station that would tell them what was happening. Once she’d gone to the same station three times, she pushed the radio away.

“Fuck it,” she said, taking long strides to the door. “You good at long distance shots?”

“What?” Poison looked out the window. He could see the car--no it looked smaller like a motorcycle--speeding towards the diner. “No, not really, that’d be Fun Ghoul.” After he said it, he felt a wave of nausea come over him. What if Ghoul was caught in the fire at the diner? What if he died, too?  _ I can’t deal with losing all three of them. _

“Well, you better hope that ‘crow ain’t good at ‘em either, sugar.” She popped her neck and left the building. 

Poison followed behind and watched as the SCARECROW got closer. Even though he was ready to start shooting as soon as it got closer, his thoughts were still on the diner. He could only think of what he had left of his family. Ghoul. Show Pony. Dr. D. Cherri Cola, if he had ever shown up. 

While he was lost in thought, Queen of Hearts pointed her gun at the motorcycle. “Let’s give ‘em a warning shot,” she hissed. The blast went left but still made the driver swerve. Even after they steadied the bike, they didn’t shoot back. “What’s ‘e waitin’ for?”

“Maybe to get closer?” Poison tried to get himself to focus on the task. What if this was the ‘crow that attacked Jet Star and Kobra Kid? What if they had left the firefight at the diner after killing Ghoul? 

“Well, let’s not give ‘em the chance,” Hearts started running in the direction of the ‘crow. Poison finally snapped out of his mind and ran after her.

As she ran, she shot at the bike that was getting closer, and even though they swerved, they never shot back. Poison shot once at the ‘crow, but didn’t get any closer than Hearts. Finally, she was able to get a good shot at the bike and blew the front tire. When the tire exploded, the bike flipped up, sending the rider into the air.

Poison could see that the ‘crow’s foot was caught in something, so they didn’t go flying off. They dropped to the side of the bike and when the motorcycle fell on top of the rider, they let out a scream of pain. As the two got closer, Party Poison’s heart jumped in his chest.

“You mother fucker ambushed our friends!” Hearts aimed her gun again as she ran. 

Before she could shoot, Poison ran in front of her. “No!”

Quickly aiming her gun to the sky, Hearts pulled the trigger. “The fuck, Poison? I coulda shot you! Now get outta my way.” She pushed him away and marched past him, but he grabbed her shoulder. 

Just as she was about to chew him out, she saw that the guy under the motorcycle wasn’t a SCARECROW or even a drac. “Another Killjoy? Man, you shoulda radioed down here! We thought a ‘crow was comin’ to kill us!”

Fun Ghoul looked up at the two of them and grimaced. “I’m no SCARECROW, now get this fucking bike off my leg- ah-” he bit down on his lip as he tried to move his leg.

Poison and Hearts lifted it up as Ghoul crawled out from underneath. Now that he was up close to it, Party Poison immediately recognized it as Cherri Cola’s bike. A million questions were about to flood out of him, but Ghoul was still sitting on the ground, not making any efforts to stand up.

“Are you okay?” Poison asked, kneeling down to examine Ghoul’s leg. The bottom half of his jeans were ripped, exposing a fresh cut going down his shin. 

“Do I fucking look okay, Poison?” Ghoul tried to push himself up but ended up cursing as he fell back down. “You got any sort of first aid kit in that bar that no one knows about?” he asked Hearts.

“I  _ might _ if you stop coppin’ an attitude with me and tell us what’s been happenin’,” she put her hands on her hips. 

Ghoul huffed and stuck his hand out to Poison. “Help me up, asshole.” 

Poison rolled his eyes and lifted him off the ground. Ghoul flung his arm around his shoulders and leaned on him most of the way back to the bar. While they tried walking, Poison could feel something warm on his back from Ghoul’s arm. At first, he just figured it was sweat, but after a couple more yards, he could see how much of a beating his friend had taken. He somehow managed to look paler than usual. 

“Ghoul, what happened back at the diner?” he asked gently, trying to contain himself from his usual high-strung questions. He knew that not being calm would only result in the two of them screaming at each other, so he decided it was a good time to keep his cool. “Did you get hurt in the fight?”

He sighed heavily in response. “Let’s just get back to this fucking bar before I pass out, Party Poison.”

“Ghoul,” Poison looked down at him and made him quit moving forward. 

“What?” he looked back up at him. “What do you want me to tell you? Huh? Yeah, I got shot on my way out--when I was fucking  _ running _ . I fucking  _ left _ our friends in an ambush, Party Poison. Our friends that really could’ve used you being there.” He grimaced in pain as he shifted his weight onto his bad leg. 

Poison looked away because he didn’t want Ghoul to see that he knew he was right. 

“Yeah, I could blame Pony like I usually do, and even though it really  _ was _ his fault because he’s the one who told me to save myself, I’m not going to because I have no fucking idea if he’s still  _ alive _ , Poison. Him, Cherri, Dr. D, all the others that were there, mourning. At least we were mourning together,” Ghoul spat out the last part. 

Poison knew he was going to start shaking from the anger he was feeling, but he started moving forward anyway. Ghoul didn’t say anything else the rest of the way. Queen of Hearts was so far ahead of them, Poison was sure she hadn’t actually heard any of their conversation, so he’d have to relive the images of his friends getting pummeled. 

When they got to the bar, Hearts held the door open for them. Poison helped Ghoul onto a stool at the counter, and once he could see his arm, he could see the gash that looked even worse than the one on his leg.

“Damn, what did they fucking shoot you with, Fun Ghoul?” Party Poison grabbed his arm and looked at the wound. Ghoul sneered at him.

Hearts came up behind him and inhaled sharply. “That ain’t no ray gun burn like I’ve ever seen.”

“That’s  _ not _ a ray gun burn,” Poison whispered to himself. “Ghoul, did you get shot somewhere el-”

Before he could finish the question, Fun Ghoul fell forward. Poison caught him and pushed him back against the bar. As his head hit the surface, he groaned. 

“Well, at least he ain’t dead,” Hearts ran to the other side of the bar and squatted down. “Why don’t you set him up here, sugar.” Her hand appeared for a moment to tap the countertop, then she was completely out of view again. Poison could hear her rummaging around as he tried to scoop Ghoul into his arms.

As he tried to lift him, Poison grunted and dropped him back down on the stool. Ghoul groaned and mumbled “You  _ ass _ .”

“Yeah, well if  _ your _ ass wasn’t so heavy,” he replied. 

He finally got a good hold on Ghoul and lifted him off the stool. Both of them groaned, but Poison got enough momentum to toss him onto the counter. 

Hearts popped back up with a box and bottle in hand. “Sure he’s okay? There was no reaction to that last drop you just gave him.” She set down her supplies as Poison looked back at Ghoul to see that he’d passed out again.

“Ghoul?” Poison’s voice was filled with concern. He pushed Ghoul’s hair out of his face, but he didn’t respond. “Fun Ghoul, I swear to the Phoenix Witch, if you fucking die on me, I’m going to bring you back and kill you myself!”

“Hey, take this,” Hearts hit his shoulder with the bottle. She had rummaged through the box to find quite the set of medical equipment. 

“What’s this for?” Poison asked, also wondering where in the zones she had bought the supplies from. 

“I was gonna use it to clean out the wounds, but I think you need to take a drink before I use it,” she grumbled.

“What? Why?”

She slammed her hands down on the table and flared her nostrils when she looked at him. “‘Cause if you want your friend to  _ live _ , I’ma need you to help me stitch him up! And I can’t have no fucking tumbleweed cryin’ all over the place!”

Poison looked back at Fun Ghoul and then back at Hearts. He looked at the bottle and then took a swig. “Okay. Alright, let’s do this.”

“Here we go,” she said. 

“What do you need me to do?” he asked, completely in the dark. Jet Star was always the one to patch them up. It never occurred to him that he might need to know how just in case-

“For now, I just want you to make sure he  _ stays down. _ If he starts messin’ ‘round while I’ve got a needle through his skin, he ain’t gonna like me very much later.”

Poison nodded. “Okay, I can do that.”

“And if he got shot somewhere else, I’ma need you to figure out where I’m movin’ next.”

“Right, right, okay,” he mumbled, trying not to get worried about Ghoul possibly dying.

He gently took off Ghoul’s vest, and right after he did so, he saw where he’d been shot. It had burned through the fabric of his shirt right below his collarbone on the right side. Part of him felt relieved because at least Ghoul hadn’t been shot through the heart. 

“The burn doesn’t look that bad, Hearts,” he sighed.

“Yeah, well, I can’t say the same about his leg, and I haven’t even looked at his arm yet,” she huffed. She looked up and knitted her eyebrows as she squinted at Fun Ghoul. 

“What?” he asked quickly. 

“Now, I’m not tryin’ to worry ya,” she looked back down and got back to work. “But you might wanna check for a pulse ‘cause he ain’t respondin’ to anything I do or you say.”

Poison’s heart raced in his chest. He quickly placed two fingers to Ghoul’s wrist, but he really didn’t know what he was supposed to be feeling for. He couldn’t feel any pulse or anything, but he tried to tell himself it was just because his hand was in the wrong place. He remembered Jet Star once checking Cherri’s neck for a pulse after a bad run-in with some dracs, so he did that, too. Still, he had no clue as to what he was doing.

“Don’t you fucking die on me, you asshole,” Poison said through clenched teeth.

Hearts grumbled and set a small broken piece of a mirror down next to Ghoul’s head. “Hold it under his nose, if he’s breathin’, it’ll fog up the mirror,” she directed.

Poison fumbled with trying to pick up the mirror, but once he actually got it in his hands, he tried his best to not cut Ghoul’s face with it. His hand was shaking, so the mirror shook back and forth away from Ghoul’s nose. 

“You bastard, you can’t leave me here alone,” his voice cracked. “You can’t leave me, too.”


	4. SUMMERTIME: When People Try and Put the Pieces Back Together

Fun Ghoul was still passed out on the booth table they’d moved him to when Party Poison heard noise coming from the radio. Before he could get up from the bar stool, Queen of Hearts was already grabbing the radio, trying to find the right station.

“-find… sky… Poison-” 

Poison got up and leaned across the table as the station finally cleared. He quickly recognized Cherri Cola’s voice as he repeated the broadcast.

“If you’re just now tuning in, we’re on the air to share the news from the ‘crow attack out here in Six. With minimal casualties on our side, we’re going on a long ride until we can find a place to hide if another unit comes out our way. Keep your eyes to the sky because you might just see someone looking out for you from above. Also, Party Poison or Fun Ghoul, if you’re hearing this, get back to us so we know you didn’t get dusted out there. All of us here are worried sick, and-”

“And if you don’t fucking radio back to us, I’m gonna punch you in-”

“Alright, Show Pony, thanks for butting in. Just let us know you’re not dead.” 

Once the radio went back to static, Poison let out a long sigh of relief. They weren’t dead. He hadn’t lost anyone else… yet.

“Dr. D has a station dedicated to reachin’ Killjoys like me,” Hearts said. “We use it to communicate back an’ forth.”

Poison raised an eyebrow at her, but she didn’t see because she’d already walked out the back door. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to follow her or not, but she came back a moment later with a different radio that had a little microphone attached to it.

“It’s how I knew you were gonna be here,” she added, setting it down in front of him and turning it on. “You might wanna get back to them quick.” Hearts started to walk away from him, but stopped. “When you call him, let D know you’re safe in Wonderland,” she winked at him and went back out the door.

Poison grabbed the microphone and stared at it for a moment. Was this thing even on the right station? How the fuck was he supposed to know how to work it? Instead of calling her back in, he just tried his luck and pressed down the button on the side of the microphone.

“Uh, Dr. D?” He let go of the button, wondering if someone would respond. “This is, um, Party Poison, calling in from, uh,  _ Wonderland _ ,” he felt stupid saying it, but he was quickly distracted when a cackling laugh came over the radio.

“Party Poison! You mother fucker,” Dr. D’s voice crackled over the radio. “Are we glad to hear your voice! We’ve been goin’ from station to station trying to find any noise!”

“We?” Poison said, then he realized he needed to speak into the microphone if he wanted them to hear him. Before he could ask the question again, another voice came over the speaker.

“Poison!” Show Pony yelled. “Please tell me Fun Ghoul made it to you!” He sounded worried, but it was hidden well by his usual peppy attitude.

“Uh, yeah, yeah, he made it-”

Just as Poison let go of the button, he heard rustling from behind him. When he turned around, he saw Ghoul trying to get up and heard him groan.

“Fun Ghoul,” Poison started to get out of the booth, but Dr. D came back over on the radio.

“That’s great to hear, Party Poison, but listen, we need to get you guys back here. We need as much help as we can get.”

Poison took his attention off Ghoul for a moment and grabbed the microphone again. “Listen, D. We can discuss plans later, but I-”

A sharp scream cut him off. He snapped his focus back on Ghoul to see a look of pure agony on his face.

“Poison, what was that-” This time it was Cherri Cola’s voice coming through the speaker.

Queen of Hearts burst through the door at that moment. “Party Poison, get your ass over here!”

“Party Poison, what’s going on?” Cherri said at the same time.

“Cherri, I’ll get back to you guys-”

“Now would be nice, please!” Hearts shouted. She looked over and saw his thumb was still on the button. “Give us ten minutes, sugar! Then Party Poison will chat it up with y’all!”

“Poison-”

“Gotta go, Cherri!” Poison threw down the microphone and practically jumped over the booth to get to Hearts and Ghoul.

Ghoul was thrashing about as she tried to get him to stop moving long enough to see what the problem was. Without waiting for Poison to ask for direction, Hearts grabbed his wrist and placed his hand on top of Ghoul’s chest. 

“You  _ gotta _ keep him down, Party Poison,” she instructed, kneeling in the booth seat. She quickly grabbed Ghoul’s arm that she’d stitched up earlier and gently touched around the gash. As soon as her fingers touched his skin, he yelped and reached over with his other hand to push her away. “Poison. Hand,” she ordered.

He grabbed Ghoul’s arm and held it down with his other hand. “Ghoul, Ghoul,” he tried to get his attention, but Fun Ghoul was keeping his eyes shut tight as he screamed several profanities and nonsense. “Ghoul, come on. Chill out for like five minutes,” Poison groaned.

“Ugh,” Hearts sounded disgusted. 

Poison looked over at her to see there was something coming out of the gash on Ghoul’s arm that definitely wasn’t blood. He thought he was going to throw up whatever was left in his stomach from the last time he ate.

“What the fuck is that?”

“I,” she paused, cleaning up the wound with a rag with a look of pure revulsion on her face, “have  _ no _ idea.”

“Oh,  _ fuck _ ,” Ghoul moaned, finally opening his eyes.

“Fun Ghoul?” Poison asked softly. Hearts got out of the booth and left them, looking like she was going to vomit.

He responded with a drawn-out groan and shutting his eyes again. As his breathing started to get under control again, Ghoul tried sitting up. He reached out for something to hold onto to pull him up, but Poison was the only thing close enough. He used Poison’s shoulder to pull himself up and huffed as he finally sat up.

Neither of them said anything for a few moments, but the silence was broken from the radio sitting on the table next to them.

“Party Poison? You back?” Dr. D said.

Poison looked over at Ghoul and then stretched over the seat to grab the radio. Once he sat down, facing Ghoul, he replied. “Yeah, D. We’re here.”

“Well, what the fuck happened over there?”

“We-”

Fun Ghoul snatched the microphone and sighed. “That’s not important, D.” Poison noticed how tired and weak he sounded.  _ That can’t be good _ , he thought. “What is important is what we do from here.”

“Fun Ghoul,” Poison scolded after he let go of the button on the mic. “What are you doing?”

The other Killjoy just glared at him.

“I suggest you give us a while to discuss it here, and then we’ll contact you by sundown tomorrow. Then, we’ll meet you wherever you are.” Ghoul was starting to gain more confidence in his voice as he went along, but Poison could see how much it was taking a toll on him to even be sitting up. “For now, Poison and I still need to talk about some stuff.”

“All of that sounds alright,” Dr. D said. “But, Fun Ghoul, don’t you do anything reckless without discussing a plan with us first. We don’t need any more deaths to add to our list.”

“Will do,” Ghoul replied shortly. “Until then, don’t worry about us.” He glanced up at Poison with tired eyes as he tried to hold back something else. “We’ll be fine.”

“Alright then-” 

Ghoul shut off the radio and fell back against the wall. He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth.

“Ghoul, what was that about?” Poison felt the tension rising inside him, but didn’t want to make a big deal about it before Ghoul explained himself.

He opened his eyes back up and looked at his wounded arm. “It was the Exterminator,” he stated coldly.

“What? What Exterminator?”

Ghoul looked up at Poison with tears in his eyes. “The mother fucker who killed Jet and Kobra!” 

“Wh- How do you know?” Poison’s hands were shaking--he knew it without looking at them.

“That bastard had Jet Star’s gun,” he growled. “He had it in his fucking holster! I fucking saw it! He stole it from him after he killed him! He shot me with it as I was driving away!”

Poison hopped off the table and started pacing. He wanted to punch something--wanted to break something. Rage quickly filled him.

“And you didn’t ghost him there?” Poison tried not to scream.

Ghoul looked at him in disbelief. He held up his wounded arm and said, “Do you see what he did to me? I was lucky to be able to drive Cherri’s damn bike!”

Poison turned away again and bit down on his lip, trying not to start a screaming match.

“At least he didn’t get my shooting arm,” Ghoul mumbled.

“And you didn’t shoot him?” Now, Poison _was_ screaming. “He didn’t slice off your fucking ‘shooting arm’ and you just  _ ran _ ?”

Ghoul shot him a dark look, and Poison knew things were going to get bad. He could practically see the anger rolling off him, and he was thankful Ghoul’s gun wasn’t near him because he definitely would have shot him if it had been.

As he waited for Ghoul to start screaming back, Poison grew more anxious in the quiet between them. After a few minutes, Ghoul looked back down at his arm and relaxed against the wall again.

“It was poisoned with something,” he mumbled, lightly running his finger around the wound.

“What?” Poison quit pacing and knitted his eyebrows together. He hadn’t really caught what Ghoul had said, but he wasn’t repeating himself. “Fun Ghoul,  _ what _ did you say?”

He looked back up with a smirk that told Poison something very bad was going to happen. Then, he started laughing. Poison’s eyes widened as Ghoul’s laughter turned into coughing. He took two long strides over to the table and pushed Ghoul’s shoulders back against the wall, making him look up at him.

Ghoul rolled his eyes and pushed Poison’s hands off him. “Right as I rounded the corner around the diner, I saw him. He was obviously the one in charge of the ‘crows sent after us,” he started to tell him. “He purposefully shot at the ground around me in hopes of throwing me off, but I was able to hop off the bike and get ready to fight him.”

He looked away from Poison and bit the inside of his cheek. “I didn’t know he had a knife on him until I felt it rip through my skin. And that mother fucker  _ burned _ . I mean a different type of burn they the normal blast.” He shook his head and laughed again. “I could smell it. Couldn’t I.D. it, but I knew whatever was on that blade was  _ not _ meant to leave a person healthy. When I kicked him to the dirt, that’s when I saw Jet’s gun. And as I drove off, I turned back around once to see him fire it at me. Managed to miss most of it,” he raised his right shoulder.

“Well, you’re right ‘bout that knife, sugar,” Queen of Hearts said. 

Neither of them had heard her come back in, but she looked much less disgusted now and more sorrowful. Both of them had seen that look before. It usually came with the news that someone had died in a firefight.

She sighed heavily and plopped down in the seat. She held out her hand, signaling Ghoul to show her his arm. After he did, she examined the wound again and squeezed around it, making more of the stuff that had come out earlier reappear. Ghoul scrunched up his face in pain but let her do what she needed to do. 

Shaking her head, Hearts let go of his arm and slumped against the back of the seat. “I’ve gotten as much of that shit outta the wound as I could, but I’m sure whatever that knife was covered in has already made it’s way through your body.” She took a clean rag out of her back pocket and handed it to him.

Poison felt his heart beating faster, but when he looked from Hearts to Ghoul, he didn’t look nearly as shocked as Poison felt.

He simply shrugged his shoulders and took the cloth to wrap it around the wound. “So, what’s the verdict, Doc?”

Once again, Hearts just sighed in response, and then she stood up. “If ya stay here, where I have very limited food supplies and not-so-limited drinks, three days.”

“What?” Poison stood up with her. “Three days? But-”

“ _ But _ ,” she held her hand up to stop him, “if you get to Dr. D and Cherri Cola, where they can probably help ya a little more and get you better necessities to get stronger, maybe a week and a half?”

“Hearts, that’s no time at all!” Poison clenched his hands into fists. “What- what are we- what do we do?” He looked to Ghoul to give him some sort of plan or words of encouragement or even to scream at him and get angry. 

Instead, he just looked to Hearts. “Could you give us a moment?”

“Don’t do anythin’ stupid,” she mumbled as she left. “‘Cause I’m not patchin’ you up a third time.”

Once she was gone, Ghoul tried to move off the table. Poison walked over just as he slid off the end and almost fell over.

As he steadied him and Ghoul gripped his arms tightly, Poison felt worry wash over him. “Fun Ghoul, what are you doing?”

When Ghoul looked up at him, Poison saw the same determination in his eyes that usually got them into trouble or on a great adventure. “We’re going,” he said shortly. 

“What?”

“Anytime you’re ready,” he encouraged him, “we’re leaving. We’re going after that mother fucker.”

“Ghoul,” Poison groaned. “You’re- You need to-”

“No.” By the sound of his voice and look in his eyes, Poison knew there was no negotiating. “That Exterminator, along with the rest of Better Living, needs to learn what happens when you fuck with us.”


	5. DESTROYA: Brother Protect Me Now

Ghoul knew he had to go after that Exterminator as soon as he realized the fucker had dusted Kobra and Jet. The details of his plan were fuzzy--partially because the drive to the bar was fueled with anger and pain and partially from how much his injuries had taken a toll on him.

For now, the plan was to leave before anyone could talk the two out of it and head towards Battery City. Ghoul had a feeling in his gut that fucker was waiting for them there. He wanted Fun Ghoul and Party Poison to show up, and Ghoul planned on doing just that, guns blazing. 

He’d suggested they leave that night, considering it wouldn’t give anyone else time to get suspicious of them. Ghoul also knew that the longer he waited, the less time he had to get the Exterminator before he died. He didn’t tell Poison, but it had originally been his plan to go alone. 

Once he knew he wasn’t going to make it, he didn’t want to bring his last friend down with him. But Fun Ghoul  _ also _ knew there was no way in hell Poison would let him go by himself. So, he decided to not mention it to him. If Ghoul knew it was a suicide mission, Poison also knew it was. It was a silent agreement neither needed or wanted to make.

After the basics of their plan had been made, Party Poison had helped Ghoul into the back room Queen of Hearts set up for them to crash for the night, but after that, he hadn’t seen him since he left. It didn’t take long for Ghoul to fall asleep--he was fucking exhausted from how much pain he’d been in. He was grateful he hadn’t had the severe burning since Hearts had cleaned his wound last time.

However, it wasn’t long before Ghoul felt a shooting pain in his arm that made him wake up wanting to scream. He tried to bury his face in his arm to muffle the groans. It was dark in the room, but that didn’t matter because his eyes were shut tight as he tried not to let the pain take over. Every time, it felt like the burning was getting worse.

As he tried to keep his voice low, Ghoul felt a hand on his back. He would have immediately went for his gun, but in his state, he couldn’t think properly--couldn’t  _ act _ properly. He was still able to flinch away.

“Hey now,” Hearts grumbled. “Calm down.”

Ghoul’s breathing was still too fast, but he tried to regain some composure. 

“Come on,” she grabbed his good arm and pulled him up. They stumbled into the main room, and Hearts helped him sit down in one of the booths. He slumped against the back of the seat. Hopping onto the table, she sighed. “Y’know, you’re a mess.”

The pain was starting to die down, but it was still keeping Ghoul from talking. Even so, he smiled at her. He tilted his head back against the wall and breathed deeply. 

“It’s gettin’ worse, ain’t it?” Hearts asked. 

Ghoul just groaned in response. 

“There’s nothin’ more I can do for ya,” she stated, standing up and getting ready to walk away. She stopped and turned back around. Folding her arms across her chest, she tilted her head to the side. “Just to let ya know, Fun Ghoul, I wish I  _ could _ do somethin’ though.”

The pain was almost completely gone, but Ghoul wouldn’t look at her anyway. “I know,” he whispered. 

Just as she walked out the side door, leaving Ghoul in the bar alone, Party Poison was rounding the corner to sneak in. He’d been putting some supplies in the car for their departure and was headed back to get Ghoul, but when he saw Hearts, he hid on the side of her small shack that sat beside the bar.

As he waited for her to go inside, he saw her lean against the side of the bar and look up at the stars. After a few seconds, she stood back up and placed her hands on her hips.

“Oh, Phoenix Witch,” she said, as if catching up with an old friend. “Please have  _ someone _ lookin’ after that boy.”

After she went inside, Poison darted to the door and went inside. He gently shut the door behind him and rested against it. Closing his eyes, he briefly wondered how far they were going to make it before someone caught up to them--whether it be other Killjoys or someone from Better Living.

“What’s got you all worn out?”

Poison jumped when he heard Ghoul’s voice, but quickly located him sitting in the booth near the wall.

He shook his head. “Nothing, nothing,” he muttered. He cleared his throat and walked over to Ghoul. “So, uh, you ready for this?” 

Fun Ghoul stretched his hand out and waited for Poison to take it. He pulled him out of the seat and steadied him as he wobbled. 

“You okay?” Poison knitted his eyebrows together.

Ghoul shook him off and rolled his eyes. “Never better.”

Poison gave him an annoyed look--he wasn’t in the mood for jokes.

Punching Poison’s arm, Ghoul started to walk past him. “Come on,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper to set on the bar counter. “We should get out of here while Hearts is asleep.”

Poison followed him, but something in his gut didn’t feel right about just leaving her. “What if she comes after us? I’m not making her risk her life on this mission.” He knew there wasn’t really any risk to it--if they made it to Battery City, there were going to be people waiting for them. 

They were walking right into a trap, but it didn’t matter. Poison wanted revenge and Ghoul wanted revenge, and neither of them were going to live without the other since the rest of their family was gone. Plus, even  _ if _ Poison went by himself and made it out alive, it would only be a matter of time before Fun Ghoul was gone.

“That’s what the note’s for,” Ghoul nodded his head back at the piece of paper. “I’m hoping she reads it and knows we won’t need help again.”

“But, Ghoul-”

He turned around and huffed. He looked like he was getting impatient, and Poison knew that if he said any more, they were going to get into an argument. In his heart, Poison knew that Ghoul was right. They needed to leave now.

“Okay, let’s go,” he said, now going in front of Ghoul to get out of the bar. 

Since he had packed before, they wasted no time getting into the car and away from there. As they drove, Ghoul felt the finality of what he was doing wash over him. Poison didn’t say anything as they headed towards the city, but Ghoul knew in his heart that he was feeling the same thing.

Ghoul didn’t want to say it out loud, but he was ready to go out with guns blazing. He was trying to keep the pain he was feeling inside--he didn’t want to make Poison change his mind by voicing what he was going through. 

Poison glanced over at Fun Ghoul, who was staring stoney faced forward, not saying a word. He was concerned he wasn’t going to let him know how bad he was doing, but he decided not to bring it up. This was a mission they were going on to avenge their brothers.


	6. THE KIDS FROM YESTERDAY: The Last of All the Rides We Take

By the time they reached Zone 2, Fun Ghoul had given up trying to hide his pain from Poison. They’d made three stops since he first almost passed out in Zone 4. It was getting worse the longer they drove, but Poison knew they couldn’t stop for long.

As Ghoul picked himself up from the ground next to the Trans Am, Poison braced himself for whatever he was going to say. He’d already yelled at Ghoul for apologizing. And he’d already apologized for yelling at him.

“I can’t wait for this to be fucking over,” Ghoul said as he closed the car door.

Taken by surprise, Poison looked over with his eyebrows raised. “What?”

Ghoul looked over at him like it was obvious.

“I mean, th- the mission?” Poison asked, feeling stupid because he wasn’t on the same page as Fun Ghoul.

He sighed and rested his head against the back of the seat. “Poison, I’m ready to be  _ done _ .” Ghoul closed his eyes and didn’t say anything else until Poison started the car and began to drive again. “Yeah, I guess I’m  _ technically _ ready for this little adventure to be done,” he shook his head and stole a sad glance at his friend. “But, like, we  _ know _ how this is going to end, Party Poison.”

Poison looked back at him quickly and started chewing on his bottom lip. Of course he knew. They’d established that before they even made it halfway through Zone 5 the morning prior. Neither wanted to really say it, but they also both realized it needed to be said out loud. 

It was Fun Ghoul who’d just come right out of the blue and said it. Neither of them had spoken from the bar to the next zone in, but Poison had wished they would’ve stayed in silence after Ghoul got started talking.

“We’re not coming back,” he’d stated. “But I wouldn’t trade this opportunity to show those mother fuckers at Better Living how pissed we are for anything.”

Poison had just nodded. He felt the exact same. He wanted to go through as many draculoids, ‘crows, and exterminators as possible before he was finally taken out. No matter how many he would kill, it wouldn’t match the amount of loss he felt when he heard that his brother was dead. That his best friend was dead. That his other best friend was dying.

As he drove now, he wanted to lie to both of them, say they were going to make it, but he couldn’t bring the words to his lips. So, he just drove in the silence following Ghoul’s words.

Fun Ghoul knew that his words probably stung Poison, but at that point, he was done hiding behind false hopes. The periods between the intense pain surging through his body were getting shorter. And the pains were getting worse. He was pretty sure they’d reach Battery City soon after sunset, but he wasn’t completely sure if  _ he _ was going to make it to sundown.

He didn’t want to stop again, but they’d already decided to break right outside the city so that they could come up with some sort of plan. Ghoul hoped they wouldn’t need to pull over once more before that because of his pain, but the longer he sat there, the more he could feel the next wave coming over him. 

It always started in his arm, where he’d been cut, but it quickly took over his entire body. It was like there was a fire shooting through his veins--like he was being stabbed and cut all over his body. And it would just keep going. When it stopped, it was sudden, which hurt even more than he imagined it would if the pain would fade away instead. 

He was used to the pain starting and gradually growing, but this time, it caught him by surprise. Ghoul’s entire body felt like it had gone up in flames. He screamed and folded himself in half. He bit down on his tongue as the pain kept getting worse.

Party Poison slammed on the brakes and put the car in park. “Ghoul! Fun Ghoul! Come on, man, don’t you fucking do this!” He made Ghoul sit back up, but all that did was make him scream more.

Poison got out of the car and ran to open Ghoul’s door, and right as he did, Ghoul hurled onto the ground. He jumped back just in time to miss the vomit going all over his feet. He felt his heart drop as Ghoul collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. 

Panicking, Poison dropped down next to him and tried to pick him up. “Come on, Ghoul. Don’t you dare do this right here, right now. I will literally drag your lifeless corpse to Battery City a- and- and-”

Ghoul took in a sharp breath and gagged on his own spit. He sat up and panted, trying to get in more air into his lungs. He looked desperately at Poison, then fell onto his back. 

“Fun Ghoul!” Poison lifted his head into his hands and felt almost every emotion he’d felt over the past week in that moment. Loss. Fear. Anger. Others he couldn’t name in the moment.

Ghoul’s eyes shot open, and he rested his head back against Poison’s leg. “ _ Fuck _ ,” he groaned. 

“Oh, my god,” Poison sighed and felt the tension leave his muscles. “I- I thought- I-”

Ghoul smiled, then grimaced. “You’re not done with me yet.”

Poison shook his head, then got them both off the ground. After Ghoul got back into his seat, he shut the door and went back to the driver side. He didn’t start the car yet, though. Instead, he turned to face Ghoul and frowned.

“You were supposed to tell me when the pain started so I could pull over, Ghoul,” he said. 

Fun Ghoul scoffed and gave him a dirty look. “And I would’ve if I’d had any warning this go around.”

Poison looked at him, confused, and Ghoul quickly explained.

“It just happened this time. No subtle pain at first. Just burning.”

Frowning again, Poison looked away. “It’s getting worse?”

“Well, what did you fucking expect, Poison?” Ghoul rolled his eyes. 

Neither of them said anything for a while, mostly because Poison knew Fun Ghoul was right. He looked up and could see the sun setting in the horizon behind the lights of Battery City. They were in Zone 1 and it wouldn’t take them more than an hour to be in the city.

“What’s our plan?” Ghoul asked, as if reading Poison’s mind.

He sighed and looked back over at him. “I say we head towards the headquarters--that’s probably where they think we’ll go anyway.”

“Means there’ll be more dracs there for us to ghost,” Ghoul laughed. “Goin’ in guns blazing?” 

Poison smiled at him. “No other way.”

They smiled at each other, but as Ghoul looked at him, he knew there was a lot they could say to each other, but he couldn’t find any words. Instead, he grabbed his gun from his holster and Kobra’s from the dashboard.

“Then let’s fucking go.”

Poison started the car again and took a deep breath before stepping on the gas pedal and driving right through Zone 1 and into Battery City.

As he sped through the roads, Ghoul threw his hands in the air, screaming into the night. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw a team of ‘crows following them.

“Ghoul? Want to take care of the bastards following us?”

It took him a while, but Ghoul was able to stand in his seat and look behind the car. “My pleasure!” he called out as he aimed the guns at them. He laughed hysterically as he ghosted the SCARECROW unit and plopped back down in his seat as another group took their place and they were showered with shots from the ray guns. 

“You fucking asshole,” Poison rolled his eyes, but it didn’t take long for him to see the headquarters building. Right as he spotted it, though, the unit behind them shot out his tires. “Shit.”

He exchanged a quick look with Fun Ghoul and smiled. “You ready for this?”

Ghoul gave Party Poison his usually mischievous smile and cocked back his gun. “Got nothing better to do tonight?”

Poison looked up into the sky, but in the city lights, he couldn’t see the stars. Either way, he knew his brother and Jet Star were watching them.

“For them,” Poison said quietly.

Ghoul took a deep breath, feeling the pain start again and not caring. “For them.”

They hopped out of the car and started shooting.

 

_ “Alright, children. The lights are out and the party’s over. It’s time for me, Dr. D, to start running and say goodbye for a little while. And I know you’re going to miss me, so I’ll leave you with this: you know that big ball of radiation we call the sun? Well, it’ll burst you into flames if you stay in one place too long. That is if the static don’t get to you first. So remember, even if you’re dusted, you may be gone, but out here in the desert, your shadow lives on without you. This is Dr. Death Defying signing off.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking around! Hope you liked it! xoleighbird


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